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This time, the Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai are set to be momentous.
They will decide two key issues. One, whether the financial capital of India would remain safe under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, and two, which among the Shiv Sena factions is the real Shiv Sena.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena as “fake”, generating huge controversy.
Today, the megapolis that has controlled not only the finances of Maharashtra since its formation, is turning into a real battleground for the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav). The two parties had remained together for over two decades.
The BJP’s prime target in this electoral battle is neither the Congress nor Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), but Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena which has refused to play a second fiddle to the BJP under Modi.
Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has gladly accepted the supremacy of Modi and the BJP, after Shinde was made the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with merely 40 legislators in the 288-member state Assembly. The Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis was quoted by a section of the media as saying “we were behind the split of the Shiv Sena”.
The Shiv Sena’s original plank is “Marathi Manoos (son of Maharashtra’s soil)” which it did not dilute even after adopting Hindutva, that was different from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) version, as its ideology. Even Bal Thackeray had not accepted the supremacy of Nagpur (RSS’s headquarters) and Uddhav continued this line even after his father’s death.
In this election, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena fielded Marathi candidates from Mumbai: Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Anil Desai (Mumbai South-Central), Amol Kirtikar (Mumbai North-West) and Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North-East).
The BJP has fielded three candidates so far, two are not Marathi while one is a non-Mumbaikar. They are: Union minister Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North ), Mihir Kotecha (Mumbai North-East) and lawyer Ujjwal Nikam who hails from Jalgaon.
Interestingly, Nikam was not even a primary member of the BJP till his candidature was announced. He replaced two-term Lok Sabha member Poonam Mahajan. Poonam is the daughter of the late Pramod Mahajan, who at one time called the shots in the state and also at the Centre.
The current leadership of the BJP is said to be uncomfortable with Mumbai being in Maharashtra and ruled by Marathas. Right or wrong, a section of Maharashtrians strongly feel that a third term for Modi as Prime Minister would make Mumbai a Union Territory.
Modi’s next target is to win the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The party is seen as being promoting Gujarat at the cost of Mumbai and Maharashtra ever since they came to power at the Centre in 2014. The refrain is that the BJP led by Modi-Shah is now trying to shift the diamond industry from Mumbai to Surat, as well as shift important Central government offices to Ahmedabad,
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav MP Sanjay Raut was quoted by the media saying “17 big projects have been shifted from Maharashtra to Gujarat by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis kept mum”. The Opposition attacked the Shinde government for being “subservient to the BJP,” adding that it “allowed the Vedanta-Foxconn,Tata Airbus projects to go to Gujarat”.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not remember Maharashtra when big industries, investment and employment of Maharashtra were being taken away to Gujrat. Modi did not remember Maharashtra when he lifted the export ban on onions, he only remembered Gujarat at that time.”
The BJP has had no history of taking up the issues of the Marathi Manoos. Therefore the battle between the BJP and its opponents is neither for power or supremacy but the identity of the state.
And that is the reason why the BJP high command promotes weak leadership in the state. Shinde, Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar cannot question the BJP leadership even on the issues of their own state.
The Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai will see a bitter fight between the BJP and the Uddhav’s Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is heavily dependent upon the BJP for its political survival and power while the Congress is fighting a couple of seats under the banner of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been addressing more election rallies in the state than the leaders of the ruling front called Maha Yuti. This is because they know the limitations of Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and are thus not relying on them.
After Vidarbha, Modi addressed meetings in Pune, Solapur, and Satara districts, and then in Marathwada regions. He has been attacking Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi, but not addressing the issues of acute shortage of drinking water, unemployment and rise in the prices of essential commodities.
Interestingly, the BJP is also underplaying its slogan “Ab Ki Baar, 400 Paar” after realising that it is counterproductive and affecting its electoral prospects.
Mumbai has six constituencies which are divided into two zones: city and suburban. While two constituencies, Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central, fall under the city division, four constituencies, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North West and Mumbai North fall under the jurisdiction of the suburban collectorate.
Mumbai city has a total number of 24.59 lakh voters, while in the suburbs a total of 74 lakh voters have registered this year. The voting for the six seats of Mumbai is scheduled for May 20.
